Public opinion in Vietnam is once again upset about the situation of civil enforcement and the constant change of citizens’ identification documents. Most recently, it is known that the Ministry of Public Security is about to change the “Citizen ID” card to “Identification card.”
Vietnam’s state-controlled media reported on October 25 that the National Assembly has discussed and plans to vote on the Law on Identification, renaming the “Citizen Identification Card” card to “Identification Card” to pass next month.
As Tuoi Tre newspaper explained, the reason for making another amendment is because: “… the ‘correction’ this time is that ‘on the face of the card, the words Citizen Identification Card will be renamed Identification Card, hometown becomes the place of birth registration/place of birth, the place of permanent residence changes to the place of residence. Fingerprints and identifying features will also be removed to ensure privacy, limit the need to replace cards and problems in authenticating information.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Public Security has other explanations, saying that the name change is to “consist with the names of citizen identification cards in the world.”
It is known that this is the sixth time that Vietnamese citizens’ identification documents have been forced by the authorities to get new forms in the past 10 years.
Most recently, in March 2023, not long after the Ministry of Public Security required people to change to “Citizen Identification” cards with chips, the Ministry of Public Security immediately forced people to change to Identification cards with installed a modified chip.
It is worth mentioning that the “Citizen Identification Card” card with a “modified” chip is not the only document that the Ministry of Public Security has requested to change in the form in the past short time.
Not only public opinion, but also the state-run press and media are no less frustrated than the people. Specifically:
Tien Phong newspaper on October 22 reported with a headline asking, “What benefits does changing the name Citizen ID to ID bring to the people?” Accordingly, the Ministry of Public Security said that the draft Law on Identification removes fingerprints and changes the words “Citizen identification” to “ID” to create more favorable conditions for people and reduce complexity in procedures. administrative procedures and ensure their privacy. That is considered unconvincing by public opinion.
VnExpress newspaper on the same day also quoted the opinion of a reader named Yen Yen who said: “I have to get a card three times every four years. The first time I did it at 37 years old, it expired at 40 years old. When I was 40 years old, I went to get my card renewed until I was 60 years old (the second time), but less than a year later, I saw a notice requiring me to get a “Citizen ID” with a chip attached, so I had to get my card done again (3rd time). Now I’m asked to change my name and go back to work, I really don’t know what else to say.”
Many dissatisfied people reported to the state press, “Before doing this, the Ministry of Public Security thought carefully and did it just once“, or “The past few years have wasted so much time with this card…”
The press in Vietnam has revealed interesting information, that is, to date there have been nearly 80 million chip-embedded “Citizen Identification” cards issued to people by the Ministry of Public Security.
What does that have to do with the information on the Viet Tan party’s Fanpage, reported by author Hanh Nhan:
“A source said that the party making the software and providing plastic blanks is the nephew of the head of the Ministry of Public Security. In recent years, people’s taxes have poured in VND3 trillion every year. This is also partly because the head of the Communist Party needed a guillotine to accept so much power. Until now, the party chief only hopes that the next person can stop this expansion.”
However, thoibao.de does not have the conditions to verify this information.
Not only the previous citizen identification card and passport form, the Ministry of Public Security has also revised it in a short time. Specifically, at first the “place of birth” part was removed, but then a few months later, this section was added as before, because the country’s embassies refused to issue visas. etc…
Public opinion sees that, by constantly exchanging forms of identification documents, the benefits are nowhere to be seen, but people are harassed, running back and forth with administrative procedures.
The question is, who is really profiting by continuously changing citizen identification cards, if not the interest groups of the Ministry of Public Security?
Thoibao.de (Translated)
